Blame It On The Heat
by andiii
Summary: Hiei has feels and wants Kurama to run away to Demon World with him, but Kurama constantly refuses. He also refuses to let Hiei into his pants. What's up with that, Kurama? We all know you want it.


"Come with me."

This was the question; the plea, repeatedly begged of Kurama. Asked again and again and again, always with the same answer.

"You know I can't."

"Why?"

"Shiori."

Hiei held back a "tsk" as he turned away from Kurama, leaning against the wall his back was turned to. He was sitting on one end of the fox demon's bed as Kurama sat against the other, his long hair pulled back to combat the summer's heat. Hiei had abandoned his cloak as soon as he arrived, and Kurama was dressed in a light tank top and jeans. Hiei felt a strong urge to yank that flame of a ponytail, or perhaps set it on fire; anything to bring Kurama to his senses. _It's much too hot to set him on fire_, Hiei thought.

"That's not a reason, that's an excuse," Hiei muttered, annoyance clear in his tone. "She won't be around forever, and then what ties will you have to this world?" He turned his eyes toward the redhead curiously. "Would you come with me if she was gone?"

Kurama narrowed his eyes, and Hiei's skin crawled. The expression Kurama wore was more dangerous than any even Youko had ever worn, his mouth a taut, thin line.

"If I didn't know better, I would say that sounded like a threat, Hiei."

"Tch." Hiei closed his eyes and leaned his head back lazily. "As if I would even entertain the notion of threatening you."

Although honestly, the thought had occured to him before. It wouldn't take much to get rid of the woman - humans were inherently weak (well, _most_ humans), and it would be easy enough to make it look like an accident. But Hiei knew better; he knew Kurama better than that. Kurama would _know_, because he always _knew_. Besides that, Kurama's mere presence in the human world was proof that he cared about this woman (too much, if you asked Hiei) - cared about her enough to mourn her once she was gone. And how, Hiei wondered, would Kurama fair with that? How could a demon mourn a human? Maybe once she was gone, the spell would be lifted and Kurama set free - free to return to the demon realm with a certain fiery being. Or maybe her ghost would tie him to the human world forever.

"Even if she lives a long and healthy life," Hiei continued, "she is still a human, therefore she will die eventually. And then what will you do?"

Kurama was silent as he fanned himself with a blade of some plant or another he had emitted from his hand. Hiei opened one eye to watch him, waiting for a response. When none came, he turned towards Kurama, both eyes open.

"What is the point of staying here until she dies? Do you really want to watch her wither away into nothingness?"

"The point is to be with her," Kurama sighed. It was a speech he had given before, and one he foresaw giving several more times in the future. "To make her happy while she is still here. That is what I want, and that is why I am here: to see her live happily."

"And how does one make their human mother happy," Hiei said, "by suppressing their true strength?"

Kurama sighed heavily and shrugged his shoulders. "By fulfilling her wishes for me - becoming a teacher, finding a wife, grandchildren -" Kurama stopped short and glanced at Hiei. This slip of the tongue was definitely out of character for him - he always had such concise control over his words. But this heat - it was playing with his head - and the repetitiveness of this conversation was boring down on him - and the way Hiei looked at him now; it made clear what Hiei's next move would be.

He lunged at Kurama, yanking that hair as he had imagined earlier and entangling their tongues together. Kurama wasn't surprised by the suddenness of the act, and he responded earnestly, sliding his hands up the youkai's bare arms and digging his fingers into the hard and slender muscles.

Hiei broke the kiss and glared down at Kurama. "You belong to _me_, kitsune. I will not watch you be married off to some ningen fool, let alone procreate with one of them."

The look Kurama gave was more deadly than any poisonous plant he could emit, but Hiei stood his ground.

"I belong to no one."

"Except for _her_," Hieh snarled.

"She does not own me, Hiei," Kurama said, truly exasperated now.

"Then leave."

Kurama sighed and sat up, pushing Hiei off of him. "This is my home. When you say _ningen fools_, you are speaking of me. This is where I've chosen to live. You've known this from nearly the moment we met, and yet you don't understand it. Still, you ask for something I can't give you. You know how I feel about you without me ever expressing it in speech; our relationship has never been about words, but you've still _known_, as I have with you. But it's not enough. I can't return to demon world forever; I can't let you make that decision for me. I can't let someone have such power over me."

"And yet you stay here because of her."

"She doesn't ask me to stay, Hiei! She doesn't ask anything of me, she only wishes for my happiness."

"You think I wish for your _sadness_?" Hiei asked, leaning closer to Kurama. "You think I ask this of you because I wish to see you in pain?"

"I think you ask for purely selfish reasons."

"I see no harm in being selfish. I want you. What's wrong with that?"

Kurama felt his heartbeat quicken at the confession; he knew it was true, of course it was true, but for Hiei to admit it so freely was unexpected. But words were a game to Kurama, so he questioned Hiei's motives at the confession - was it pure honesty, or a device to make Kurama listen?

"There's nothing wrong with it," Kurama explained, "but you never realize the bigger picture. For all intents and purposes, I am human."

"You've made that clear already, fox. Do you have another point to make?"

"Could you truly care for a human the way you claim to care for me?"

Hiei leaned back, shock clear on his face as Kurama only stared and waited for a response. Was this the real reason why Kurama consistently refused him? He had never for a second put the two into the same category - Kurama had a human form, yes, but he was intrinsically _different_. He wasn't weak or incompetent; he was...Kurama.

"Is this why you say no to me?" Hiei asked. Kurama didn't answer, he only lowered his gaze and projected another blade, fanning himself again. "Kurama - didn't you just say that we knew how we felt about each other, without having to speak it? So don't you know how I feel?"

"You still think of me as Youko," Kurama said softly. "You always have. How will you feel about me once you realize how human I truly am?"

"I see all of you, Kurama," said Hiei, determination so clear in his eyes that it made Kurama shudder. "I see you, I see Shuichi, and I see Youko, because you are all of them. I'm not going to deny a part of you just because you want to deny it, because I want you to see me in the same light; you _do_ see me in the same light. You may not be fully demon, but you are no true human, either; you are Kurama, and that is who I see."

"Hiei..." Kurama was short of words now, to his surprise. Hiei's bold speech had knocked him off course; he never would have expected such brazen and affectionate words from him, but there they were. And he was compeltely lost in them, lost in Hiei, lost in his own mind, amongst feelings and desires that he couldn't control.

Hiei saw the moment, saw Kurama's composure falter and took it. He leaned forward, pressing Kurama against the bed once again. Their mouths were hot against each other, their skin even hotter as their fingertips traced each others bodies. The sweet panting from the redhead beneath him spurred him on further, and his hands wandered lower and lower until their found their way to the waistband of Kurama's jeans.

"Hiei," Kurama murmured, wrapping his hand around Hiei's, "that's far enough."

Hiei groaned and pulled away. "You still won't let me have you, even after that confession?"

"Is that the only reason you gave it, to get into my pants?"

"Kurama," he growled, "I'm not a manipulative word devil like you. Words are not my weapon; if I wanted to attack you, I would unsheathe my sword or release my black dragon."

The ghost of a smile played on Kurama's lips. "Isn't that what you're trying to do?"

Hiei rolled his eyes. "That confession was just that; a confession, and an earnest one at that. It was only meant to reassure you that my feelings have nothing to do with your species or multiple personality syndrome."

"I believe you," Kurama said, all traces of a smile disappearing. And as he said it, he realized it was true. Hiei truly did care about him; the real him. So what was holding him back now?

"So, what is it?" Hiei asked, mimicking Kurama's thoughts. He grinned. "From everything I've heard of 'The Great Youko Kurama', I never expected you to be this modest."

Kurama gave him another venomous glare, and he respectfully retracted his statement before leaning down to kiss Kurama's neck.

"There is...something else," Kurama explained hesitantly. He wasn't sure how this next confession would make Hiei react, so he tried to proceed with caution. "It's...my humanity."

Hiei frowned against Kurama's collarbone. "Didn't I already say that I accept all of you?"

Kurama shook his head. "It's not that, it's just...since I took on this human form, I have had no lovers."

Hiei grinned as he pulled up. "So it's been a while."

"I don't think you're quite understanding what I'm saying, Hiei - this...human form...has never..."

As realization hit, Hiei's eyes widened. "You never - "

"_Shuichi_ has never."

"Oh," Hiei said. He was silent for a few moments before speaking. "But you still remember how it works, don't you?"

"Of course I remember how it works, but - it's...it's been a long time...since my...first time..."

"Kurama," Hiei breathed as he leaned down. "It sounds to me like your will is faltering. Does this mean you're giving in?"

Kurama looked up into the blood red eyes as he felt what Hiei had just said come to fruition; his will was weakening. He wanted Hiei. And it wasn't his fault when he pulled Hiei down in a searing kiss - of course, it was the heat, because if it was him making the decisions, he would have chosen a much more thought-out action, because he knew this couldn't work between them, that he would end up being hurt. There was nothing he could do when Hiei finally succeeded in getting him undressed, and there was no point in trying to hide the way he gazed up at Hiei's naked body. It was just a trick of the heat, he couldn't be blamed, so he would let these actions unfold without guilt.

The heat only spurred Hiei on further - the heat of Kurama's lips, the heat of his chest, the heat of his navel, and the heat of the most sensitive area of his person. And when his fingers found their way inside of Kurama, Kurama responded only the way an expert could respond - the face he made, it could only be pulled by an expert. Kurama must have been practicing during his human years, because that face could not be the face of someone so out-of-practice as Kurama claimed to be. This face drew Hiei back towards it, back towards the lips that he so eagerly nipped and licked at.

"I don't want anyone else to see this expression," Hiei said, cupping Kurama's face in his hands. "It pains me that anyone else has ever seen it."

"Hiei," said Kurama, his breathe ragged as he cupped Hiei's face in turn, "you are the only one to ever see this expression. This face belongs to you, and you alone."

Hiei had no words to express his response to Kurama's statement, so instead, he kissed him, harder and more rough than they had ever kissed before. They were both breathless when he pulled away, and Kurama made an even more beautiful face when Hiei - as gently as he could - inserted himself into Kurama. He nearly lost it when he was enveloped in the warmth that was his kitsune and Kurama made that face.

"Hiei." Kurama moaned and gasped and panted, and the way he drew out the word made Hiei's name sound more seductive than any word had the right to be, and that alone nearly pushed him over the edge.

He ducked his head to lap at the pulse in Kurama's throat as his hand reached for Kurama's neglected manhood. Kurama's hands grasped and tugged weakly at Hiei's hair, but Hiei needed less than a thought to realize what Kurama wanted. He raised his lips to meet Kurama's, and they kissed fervently until they broke apart to shudder against each other, each moaning the other's name. They kissed languidly as Hiei pulled out and rested besides Kurama.

"It's beginning to get dark," Kurama commented, glancing out his window. "Although the heat hasn't died down. Will you stay for the night?"

"Hn," Hiei said, rolling onto his back with his hands behind his head. "Isn't it selfish to ask people to do things?"

"You're welcome to sleep in a tree."

Hiei wrapped an arm around Kurama and hitched a leg over one of Kurama's. "Of course I'm staying here," he said, closing his eyes. "As if I would leave once I finally got you right where I want you."

"You haven't _got_ me anywhere - Hiei, are you asleep?" And he was. Looking down at the small youkai, Kurama could see that his breathing had evened out. _How could he fall asleep so easily in this heat?_

He let out a sigh, which turned into a yawn. Even in this heat, he had to admit, he was exhausted. Not just physically - although this had been much more physical exertion than he had planned on today. He watched Hiei sleep for a while, wondering. Could this work? He had worked so hard to keep so many emotions so neatly repressed, but Hiei was slowly breaking away at his barriers. But, it was so hot. Too hot to think clearly. But obviously, not too hot to sleep. So he laid back, draped an arm around Hiei, and let sleep overtake him.


End file.
